# Lithium-Ion batteries: Are there fire extinguishers can can put out a lithium-ion fire? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2025, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lithium-ion-batteries-are-there-fire-extinguishers-can-can-put-out-a-lithium-ion-fire/1018434 "2025-05-16T05:36:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2025, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lithium-ion-batteries-are-there-fire-extinguishers-can-can-put-out-a-lithium-ion-fire/1018434/62 "2025-05-20T06:25:23Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I read the question The reference provided discusses the difficulty of making modifications to smart phone hardware. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lithium-ion-batteries-are-there-fire-extinguishers-can-can-put-out-a-lithium-ion-fire/1018434/63 "2025-05-20T19:42:54Z")
Which suggests it would not be impossible for smartphone makers to build self-destruct in from the very start. But real hard for it to be retrofitted. To be useful, the self-destruct sequence would have to be very easy to trigger. When some thug (government or not) “asks” you to hand over your phone you don’t have much time to fiddle with it before complying. The obvious problem of marketing a mainstream device with an easily triggered incendiary mode of self-destruct are left as an exercise for the reader. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lithium-ion-batteries-are-there-fire-extinguishers-can-can-put-out-a-lithium-ion-fire/1018434/64 "2025-05-20T20:26:57Z")
I want Siri to announce “This phone will self destruct in five seconds.” Then start singing “Daisy, Daisy”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2025, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lithium-ion-batteries-are-there-fire-extinguishers-can-can-put-out-a-lithium-ion-fire/1018434/65 "2025-05-20T20:39:12Z")
If not _Daisy_, than whatever was that haunting lilting melody at the end of Dr. Strangelove while they were showing all the footage of real nuclear tests, standing in for footage of the Soviet Doomsday Machine going off. Which some very cursory lazy research seems to suggest was a 1940s rendition of _Until we meet again_ ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2025, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lithium-ion-batteries-are-there-fire-extinguishers-can-can-put-out-a-lithium-ion-fire/1018434/66 "2025-05-20T21:38:38Z")
_We’ll meet again_ By Vera Lynn (of Pink Floyd fame). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2025, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lithium-ion-batteries-are-there-fire-extinguishers-can-can-put-out-a-lithium-ion-fire/1018434/67 "2025-05-20T22:09:32Z")
Thank you! The lyrics I could make out were so generic as to be unsearchable. Turns out “meeting again” is a pretty common idea in song lyrics. Who knew? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lithium-ion-batteries-are-there-fire-extinguishers-can-can-put-out-a-lithium-ion-fire/1018434.md?page=3)